The present invention relates to a device for exposing at least one face of a panel, in particular a printed circuit panel, the device comprising a light source and means for holding said panel facing said light source.
Such devices serve in particular to make printed circuits from a panel coated in photosensitive material with artwork being put in front of the panel, said artwork carrying tracks to be generated on the printed circuit. A light beam then serves to expose the entire panel either by scanning successively over said surface or else by globally exposing the surface as a whole.
The photosensitive material which generally comprises a dry film or ink needs to receive a precise quantity of light energy that is constant over its entire area in order to ensure good polymerization of the photosensitive material, thereby guaranteeing the final quality of the printed circuit. When the material is underexposed, subsequent development takes place poorly, and in particular the polymerization of the photosensitive material is irregular, often leading to tracks on the printed circuit that are too fine or even that are interrupted; in the opposite case of overexposure, the fidelity with which the image is reproduced is degraded, in particular by the tracks becoming wider than the desired width, which can lead to certain tracks touching one another, thereby leading to short circuits.
In order to improve productivity, in particular by reducing the total time required for exposing panels, use is being made of ever-brighter light sources and of photosensitive materials that are more and more sensitive. Nevertheless, such light sources can be modulated to a small extent only, which makes it necessary to be able to adapt panel exposure time over periods that are becoming shorter and shorter.
Furthermore, switching off the light source requires a pause that is long, possibly has long as 30 minutes, before it is possible to switch the light source back on again, so switching off and on is preferably avoided in order to optimize productivity of the exposure device. Thus, provision is generally made to leave the light source on continuously and to use a shutter which alternately shuts off and reveals the light source by moving between the light source and the face to be exposed.
Such devices with a shutter serving alternately to mask and to uncover the light source are known, thus making it possible to leave the light source on continuously.
Furthermore, the large extent of sensitivity ranges for photosensitive materials, which can go from less than 10 mJ.cmxe2x88x922 to more than 600 mJ.cmxe2x88x922, requires that it be possible to modulate exposure time very considerably.
Nevertheless, those devices having a single shutter do not enable short exposure times to be obtained with shutter displacement having a level of accuracy that is sufficient and repeatable.
In addition, the light source can be masked either by moving the single shutter in a plane, or by moving it circularly around the light source.
In the first case, the plane shutter generally performs a go-and-return stroke past the light source, and the zone of the panel that is exposed first ends up by being exposed for longer since it is also the zone to be masked last, which means that exposure is not uniform over the entire surface.
In the second case, the shutter is generally rotary and requires a rotary drive mechanism that can make it possible to obtain both speeds of rotation that are high and stopping times that are short. Such a mechanism enables the panel to be exposed in uniform manner and enables exposure times to be adapted. Nevertheless, it is necessary to increase the speed of rotation of the shutter quite considerably in order to obtain exposure times that are very short, particularly when they are shorter than one second, and that leads to technical difficulties in implementation. The dynamic stresses due to the inertia of the drive system and to the drive forces to which the device is subjected increase with increasing speed of rotation. Consequently, for short exposure durations, the device does not enable satisfactory repeatability to be guaranteed between two exposures, whether in terms of rotation speeds or in terms of the precision with which the shutter can be stopped.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device enabling panel exposure to be improved, in particular when the panel is covered in a material that is very sensitive, which device enables a very wide range of exposure durations to be implemented thus enabling the same device to be used to expose materials of different sensitivities.
This object is achieved because of the fact that the device comprises:
first and second moving shutters suitable for acting in succession to mask said light source at least in part, each of said shutters presenting a respective edge, said edges together defining a window suitable for being adjusted and through which a light zone is generated on said face of the panel to be exposed;
displacement means for displacing said shutters to displace said shutters in a plane disposed between said light source and said panel; and
displacement control means for controlling the displacement of said shutters as a function of the sensitivity of the face to be exposed and as a function of the power of said light source, in such a manner that both shutters move past said face of the panel at substantially the same speed and in the same direction.
Since high power light sources operate at fixed power values that are difficult to modulate, energy levels are varied by means of different exposure durations.
Having two shutters makes it possible to begin and end exposure in the same zone of the panel. By moving the shutters in the same direction and at the same speed, exposure uniformity is guaranteed over the entire face, even when exposure time is very short. Similarly, when scanning is used, since each zone corresponds to the area of the window, each zone is subjected to the same quantity of energy, given that, for example, the zone of the face which is exposed first is also the zone to be masked first.
For materials that are very sensitive, requiring exposure times that are very short, of the order of a few tenths of a second, it is preferable to select a window of size that is smaller than the size of the panel face to be exposed, so as to scan over the entire face by moving the window past the fixed panel.
Conversely, with materials that are less sensitive, where longer exposure times may be as long as several tens of seconds, the window is opened to the maximum and exposure is performed globally over the entire face of the panel.
The displacement speed of each shutter is preferably constant throughout its displacement past the panel to be exposed, but in order to optimize production times, displacement speed may vary depending on the nature of the displacement.
It will be understood that while opening the exposure window, i.e. until the first shutter has reached a distance from the second shutter that corresponds to the desired window size, the displacement speed of the first shutter may be higher than its speed during exposure itself. It follows that during exposure, the speed of the second shutter (identical to the displacement speed of the first shutter during opening) is also greater than the speed of the second shutter during exposure.
Similarly, the panel may have discontinuous exposure zones between which the two shutters may be displaced at a speed that is higher than their speed during exposure.
The speeds of the shutters may vary while a panel is being processed (before, during, and after exposure) providing the speed of each of the two shutters is substantially equal to the speed of the other shutter for each operation of the same kind (opening/closing the window, exposure, etc.).
Advantageously, the displacement means may enable the displacement speed of each of the shutters to be adjusted or modulated throughout their displacement.
Advantageously, the displacement means comprise first displacement means for said first shutter and second displacement means for the second shutter.
Thus, each shutter is advantageously connected to displacement means that are specific thereto so as to make it possible to displace one shutter independently of the other. Two embodiments can thus be envisaged. In the first, the shutters are different from each other and they are driven together in displacement, while in the second embodiment, the two shutters are identical and they are driven individually by displacement means that are preferably identical, but specific to each shutter.
In order to be able to drive the shutters quickly and exactly past the face of the panel to be exposed, the displacement means are accurate means, preferably linear means so as to be able to guarantee a constant displacement speed for the shutter all along its travel past the panel to be exposed.
Advantageously, the displacement means comprise an actuator, preferably a rodless pneumatic actuator.
Any other displacement means enabling the displacement speeds of the shutters to be modulated or adjusted in a manner that is precise, reliable, and repeatable, can be envisaged, for example a linear motor.
Advantageously, the displacement control means include first displacement initialization means for initializing displacement of said first shutter and second displacement initialization means for initializing displacement of said second shutter, said first and second displacement initialization means being independent of each other and enabling the size of the window to be adjusted.
Advantageously, the control means enable the displacement speeds of the shutters to be controlled and adjusted throughout displacement thereof by acting on the displacement means at all times throughout panel processing.
Adjusting window size makes it possible to modulate the quantity of energy received by the photosensitive materials without it being necessary to act specifically on the displacement speed of the two shutters. Thus, each time the sensitivity of the photosensitive material is changed, and possibly also each time the power of the light source is changed, it suffices to adjust window size in order to obtain a desired quantity of energy. This adjustment is performed merely by modifying the displacement parameters of the two shutters, so a single exposure device can be used for making printed circuits from any type of photosensitive material.
For the second embodiment envisaged above, each shutter possesses its own displacement initialization means. For the first embodiment, its first variant in which the window is opened in front of the panel face to be exposed is comparable to the second embodiment in that it requires each shutter to have its own initialization means. However, it has a second variant, in which the first shutter is positioned relative to the second shutter prior to exposure, with both shutters being displaced simultaneously throughout exposure, so the initialization means can be common and constituted solely by initializing the second shutter.
Advantageously, the first displacement means are disposed on said second shutter such that said first shutter is suitable for moving relative to said second shutter.
Thus, in the first embodiment, a first shutter is fixed to the second shutter which carries the first shutter with it. In this case, the first shutter presents a solid surface acting as a mask which is placed in front of the second which also has a solid surface, but with a large open area in front of which the first shutter is placed.
The offset in the positioning of the first shutter on the second determines the area of the window. The displacement speed of the first shutter relative to the second is of little importance, particularly since the window remains open away from the exposure zone prior to displacement of the second shutter, and can therefore be implemented using any known means, whether the means are mechanical, pneumatic, or other. The means for displacing the first shutter relative to the second should nevertheless be selected in such a manner as to enable positioning to be accurate and reproducible so as to guarantee that the area of the window can be properly adjusted.
Advantageously, the device further includes a device for cooling the light source.
Since the light source is of high power, e.g. up to about 10 kilowatts (kW) for a mercury vapor discharge lamp, it is desirable to cool it, e.g. by circulating cold air so as to dissipate as much heat as possible and avoid raising the temperature of the exposure device as a whole, given that in the vicinity of the light source, temperatures may be higher than 1000xc2x0 C.
When the shutter is placed in front of the light source, in particular in the closed position, it receives all of the light intensity from the source. Thus, in order to avoid heat damage to the shutter and its surroundings (displacement means, control means, etc.), each shutter advantageously comprises refractory material.
Thus, even when the shutter is in the closed position, remaining in front of the light source while it is left on permanently, the shutter is capable of accumulating a large quantity of heat without damage.
In addition, in order to preserve the shutters, it is preferable for them to reflect light rays back to the light source as much as possible. Thus, each shutter advantageously presents a reflecting surface enabling it to return at least a fraction of the light emitted by the light source. Since the light source is preferably cooled, it is capable of disposing of the heat reflected by the shutter.